MINE CLOSURE CONFERENCE 2025

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ABOUT THE CONFERENCE

 During closure planning there are usually four parties involved, being the mining house, external stakeholders, consultants and the authorities who are responsible for closure plan and eventual relinquishment approval. There are subsequently numerous conflicting ideals between the parties during the evolution of mine planning to post-closure. This leads to unrealistic closure expectations and vague obligations that result in the lack of setting or accepting specific closure and relinquishment criteria. Without clear direction, achieving a closure certificate in South Africa remains uncertain. This leads industry to adopt very different positions around closure planning that ranges between best practice, compliance to legislation to minimal planning.

Successful relinquishment has been achieved internationally by creating a value chain for sustainable post-mining economies as early as possible. In South Africa relinquishment could possibly be achieved successfully by complying to the current legislative closure approach or alternatively by creating third party value by means of parallel economies. This could potentially be supplemented with a regional closure approach between mining houses. It is therefore imperative that the third party needs to be part of the value chain development and execution through meaningful community engagement to ensure the benefits of local knowledge and achieve social acceptance. Once the long-term value chain is in place it lays the foundation for closure- and relinquishment criteria and social integration. ESG compliance adds another layer to closure planning but can be very useful to add specific criteria and expedite closure actions. Regardless of the approach taken, engagement with regulators is required for overall alignment and changes to policies.

OBJECTIVES

To assist interested parties, industry and regulators to better understand the closure challenges within the current uncertain and fragmented closure space. This is underpinned by Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) compliance, reducing closure liabilities and risks, just transition and the ultimate goal of relinquishment. The conference will aim to present, workshop and identify the pressing focus areas for further research and engagement with the regulators.

TOPICS

• Current challenges towards relinquishment
• Alternative closure solutions
• Socio economics and just transitions
• ESG compliance and considerations to closure

Keynote speakers

Dr Dee Fischer,
Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment

Dr. Dee Fischer holds a BArch (WITS), a MSc in Geography and PhD in Energy Studies (UJ). Dee heads up the team responsible for the Financial Provisioning Regulations and the draft Hydraulic Fracturing Regulations as well as integrating the mining and environmental legislative framework. Her work to using strategic environmental assessments to exclude identified activities from the environmental authorisation requirements and the development of the National Web-Based Environmental Screening tool was recognised by the International Institute of Impact Assessors. Dee also has several year’s of experience in the waste sector and received the Institute of Waste Management of Southern Africa’s Presidents award for exceptional service rendered to the waste management profession for her role as the technical manager of the team that developed the waste classification and management legislation.

Mariette Liefferink,
CEO, Federation for a Sustainable Environment

• CEO: Federation for a Sustainable Environment (FSE)
  (The FSE is widely recognized as one of the most prominent of the environmental activist stakeholders in the mining industry)
• Multi-award winning environmental activist
• Research associate
• Guest Lecturer at national and international universities
• Author and co-author of published scholarly papers
• Reviewer of academic papers
• Member of multiple governmental and international and national academic institutions, task teams, advisory and steering committees, and research projects
• Main character in a number of documentary films, including the award-winning Jozi Gold documentary.

Programme

Download the programme

CONFERENCE STRUCTURE

• Conference proceedings
• Conference panel discussion to identify focus areas, needs and future actions
• Planned breakaway after the conference for academics and after interested parties to discuss future research topics flowing from the conference

OUTCOMES

• Identify relevant challenges and research topics
• Identifying areas for future engagement with the regulator to influence policy and legislation to address the challenges
• To promote and understand the appetite of the industry to consider alternative closure solutions

CALL FOR PAPERS

The conference will also be supported by a peer reviewed journal publication on the same themes. Prospective authors are encouraged to submit an abstract for consideration as a paper or presentation. Papers selected for the journal will go through the journal review process before publishing. In person presentations will be preferred, although virtual presentations may be streamed live or pre-recorded.

Prospective authors are required to:

• Submit titles and abstracts of their papers and/ or presentations in English
• Note whether they wish to submit a peer reviewed aper or a standalone presentation
• Note whether they plan to attend in person or deliver a live-streamed or recorded virtual presentation

Abstracts should be no longer than 500 words and should be submitted to: Camielah Jardine, Head of Conferencing, E-mail: camielah@saimm.co.za.

The complete Proceedings volume will be made available on the internet for public access after the
conference. Selected papers will be submitted to the SAIMM Journal.

KEY DATES

• Abstract Submission Deadline – 16 September 2024
• Paper Submission Deadline – 14 October 2024

registration fees

“Early bird registration valid until 19 November 2024.
Kindly note, registration closes on 17 February 2025. Please note late registrations will incur a R500 administration fee for registrations received after the closing date”

Sponsorship and Exhibition

View the Sponsorship Prospectus...

Accommodation

The Maslow Hotel
Email: malsow.reservations@sunintertnational.com 
010 226 4660 
Block Code: SAIMMPUBLICBLOCK
Rate: R2171 Single Bed and Breakfast

Other Accommodation options in the vicinity:

Garden Court Sandton City
gcsandtoncity.reservations@southernsun.com
Within a 1.2km radius

MINT Hotel 84 on Katherine
84 Katherine St
2031 Sandton, South Africa
84onkatherine.stay@minthotels.co.za
Within a 1.6 km radius

CONTACT

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT:

Gugu Charlie,
Conferences and Events Co-ordinator.
011 538 0238
gugu@saimm.co.za